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   volatile

   /ˈvɒlətʌɪl/

   adjective

   • 1. (of a substance) easily evaporated at normal temperatures: "volatile solvents such as petroleum ether, hexane, and benzene" Similar evaporativevaporousvaporescentexplosiveeruptiveinflammableunstabletechnical:labile
   • 2. liable to change rapidly and unpredictably, especially for the worse: "the political situation was becoming more volatile" Similar tensestrainedfraughtuneasyuncomfortablechargedexplosiveeruptiveinflammatoryturbulentin turmoilfull of upheavalsinformal:hairynail-bitingwhite-knuckledodgyOpposite stablecalm
   • ▪ (of a person) liable to display rapid changes of emotion: "a passionate, volatile young man" Similar unpredictablechangeablevariableinconstantinconsistentuncertainerraticirregularunstableturbulentunsteadyunsettledunreliableundependablechangingever-changingvaryingshiftingfluctuatingfluidmutableproteanfitfulwaveringfull of ups and downsmercurialcapriciouswhimsicalfickleflightygiddyimpulsivewaywardtemperamentalhighly strungexcitableemotionaloveremotionalfierymoodycholericstormytempestuousvolcanicinformal:blowing hot and coldpeakytechnical:labilerare:fluctuantchangefulOpposite stableconstant
   • 3. (of a computer's memory) retaining data only as long as there is a power supply connected.

   noun

   • 1. a volatile substance.

   Word Origin Middle English (in the sense ‘creature that flies’, also, as a collective, ‘birds’): from Old French volatil or Latin volatilis, from volare ‘to fly’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. volatileness noun

   Scrabble Points: 11

   • V

     4

   • O

     1

   • L

     1

   • A

     1

   • T

     1

   • I

     1

   • L

     1

   • E

     1

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